Accountability over excuses

GREEN BAY – A tough 24-14 loss for the Green Bay Packers (6-3) against the Detroit Lions (7-1) proved to be avoidable but the players came to a consensus that they will take accountability for their pre snap penalties and ball drops. 

Tight end Tucker Kraft said that the reason they lost the game can be attributed to their own mistakes and lack of focus behind the ball. 

“In the past you’ve seen us shoot ourselves in the foot in critical games and what happens? The Lions are too good of a team for us to make the mistakes that we made,” said Kraft. 

According to Kraft, dialing in before each play is necessary to be able to avoid penalties and move the ball the way they want.
“It really just comes down to everybody trying to do their job one play at a time. When we don’t even get to get the play started because of pre snap errors or things along those lines, we can’t push the ball down the field. We have to rely on our pass game when we have extremely good run blocking, o-line, tight end room and we’re all good at that. We’ve got a great running back,” said Kraft. 

“We like to stay ahead of the sticks with Josh’s legs, but we can’t do that when we get put in 2nd and long and we’ve got to throw the ball. We just have to come to a point where we have to look ourselves in the mirror and decide how consistent we want the offensive unit to be moving forward. We can’t keep putting the defense in a position like that.”

Kraft also said that finding the end zone has been a key point of focus for them and he is not satisfied with their performance in the red zone.

“We need to finish in the red zone. That’s going to be our main point moving forward, because the pre-snap penalties just come from maybe not being locked in — I don’t know, but those have got to stop,” said Kraft. 

Although the loss will prove detrimental to the Packers for the remainder of the season, Kraft said that the team is motivated to use this opportunity to grow and change their mindset moving forward. 

“We are a really hungry team. We are frustrated because we lost a game we definitely shouldn’t have lost. Coming out of the bye, guys need to get rested up. I think we’ve got to change our demeanor,” said Kraft. 

Despite taking accountability for the poor mistakes, Kraft said that the constant downpour during the came was definitely a factor in their poor ball handling. 

“The footing wasn’t too terribly bad, but it obviously got worse as the game went on, but yeah I mean that all went into it,” said Kraft.  “I would attribute drops to the ball being wet.”

Kraft also added that the bye week is coming at a good time for the Packers because they can take some time to reset mentally and physically. 

“We definitely need to get some guys healthy. I’ve been in a red jersey the whole first half of the season, playing through a lot. We’re going to get this time off and come back and we’re going to be a better football team,” said Kraft. 

Packers Wide Receiver Christian Watson said that he was also disappointed in his team’s ability to find the endzone and make the most of their opportunities. 

“I mean, it was definitely tough, but it was tough for both teams. I think I can speak for everyone when I say we left some stuff out there,” said Watson. 

“I mean in terms of our team and what we have, we know what we are capable of and all of our goals are still right in front of us, we’ve just got to find a way to lock in on the fundamentals and the details of the pre snap stuff. I really just think we are shooting ourselves in the foot, but we can clean that up and really be where we want to be.” 

However, like Kraft, Watson said that the game provided them with some good learning opportunities and they will definitely lock in to make sure that they limit making those same mistakes going forward. 

“I just think we were a couple opportunities away from being in it. We’ll learn from those things and we’ll be better for it,” said Watson. 

“I can always hold myself accountable and we want to be a team that holds each other accountable. We’ve got the right leaders in this locker room to go out there, but we’ve got to do it everyday of the week and leading up to the game. We’re not going to do it in the game if we can’t do it during the week. “

Guard Sean Rhyan said that the team did not meet the standards it set for itself today and that seeing a loss against the Lions at Lambeau Field will be a big hit for them this season. 

“We didn’t really play up to our standard today. This was a North opponent and this was a huge game for us, for them too, but it’s one of those games where you wish you could have it back but it’s one of those games where you just have to look at it and be really critical about it. You’ve got to look at yourself and what you could have done better and what your unit could have done better as a whole,” said Rhyan. 

According to Rhyan, the team needs to focus on working together as a unit, rather than trying to make big plays from an individual standpoint. 

“I think it’s just trying to do too much. We were talking about how you can’t make big plays, you’ve just got to do your job. I think that’s what happened today — we were just trying to do too much,” said Rhyan. 

“I think we’ve just got to relax a little bit and know that we’re good enough to take on whoever and execute.”

Following the loss, the Packers head into their bye week before taking on the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Nov. 17, at Soldier Field.